See what stories had TCPalm readers talking

Quick context on what Treasure Coast residents are talking about this week:

Getting better or getting worse?

It looked, for a while, as if our water crisis might be waning.

With a reduction in the discharges from Lake Okeechobee, the blue-green algae began to dissipate, and the toxicity dropped dramatically.

But other water problems emerged.

Brown algae began blooming last week in the Indian River County portion of the Indian River Lagoon. Then the Florida Department of Health in St. Lucie County last weekend warned people not to swim at Walton Rocks Beach on Hutchinson Island because of high levels of enteric bacteria.

Cue state Sen. Joe Negron, who last week unveiled his plan to buy 60,000 acres of sugar-owned land south of Lake Okeechobee to store water that now gets discharged into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers. The price tag: $2.4 billion, proceeds that would come from Amendment 1 funds.

Critics pounced almost immediately, with lawmakers in some other parts of Florida expressing doubts — perhaps because they fear their pet projects might be defunded to pay for Negron's plan.

The water's bad everywhere in Florida, folks.

As TCPalm columnist/opinion editor Eve Samples wrote last week, Negron's plan might be seen as political opportunism, a way to get a leg up on his Democratic opponent in the November election. It also might provide a boost to his wife, Rebecca Negron, who is running in the Aug. 30 Republican primary, seeking ultimately to fill Rep. Patrick Murphy's seat in Congress. Call it environmentalism by proxy, as identifying the Negron name with efforts to solve our water crisis can't hurt her chances.

But, as Samples noted, even if there's an element of opportunism, the plan still has a lot going for it, and could gain traction — so long as the sugar industry, and the power brokers in Tallahassee, play along.

The west coast is dealing with its own problems caused by the discharges. In March, a brown tide caused a massive fish kill in the Banana River and northern Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County.

Florida's waters have long been in crisis, and the crisis appears to be worsening.

And the horrific environmental damage could ultimately be matched by the economic damage. Already scores of area businesses have been hammered by our algae crisis; and with a new study showing the Indian River Lagoon is worth $7.64 billion to its five Florida counties, there's a stronger-than-ever economic incentive for Negron's colleagues in Tallahassee to support his plan.

Five major industries related to the lagoon employ nearly 72,000 workers with annual wages of more than $1.2 billion, plus profits of $1.4 billion, the study found. The average wage for those industries is $57,538 a year, compared with $39,152 for the entire region.

Gov. Rick Scott in particular tends to focus on job creation and economic growth. There aren't many economic engines in the state that generate as much wealth as the Indian River Lagoon.

So for those who have so far been unmoved by the ecological crisis, perhaps the specter of economic crisis could spur some action.

About Gil Smart

Gil Smart is a columnist for Treasure Coast Newspapers and a member of the Editorial Board. His columns reflect his opinion. Readers may reach him at gil.smart@tcpalm.com, by phone at 772-223-4741 or via Twitter at @TCPalmGilSmart.